DOJ mourns passing of prosecutor
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday mourned the passing of one of its top prosecutors who secured the conviction of retired Army Gen. Jovito Palparan and a number of illegal drugs traders.
DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra confirmed the passing of Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera.
“SASP Navera passed away last night due to pancreatic cancer,” said Guevarra.
“So very sad. He was one of our best,” the secretary said about Navera.
Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento also expressed his sadness as well as the DOJ’s National Prosecution Service (NPS) over the death of one of their prosecutors.
“NPS mourns the demise of Senior Assistant State Prosecutor JP Navera. Such a big loss given that he was an excellent litigator,” Malcontento said.
Navera was the lead prosecutor who secured the Sept. 16, 2019 kidnapping and serious illegal conviction of Palparan over the 2006 disappearance of University of the Philippines (UP) students Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan.
The late prosecutor, who was present during the handing of the verdict, previously said he was unfazed when Palparan hurled invectives at him and the Malolos City Regional Trial Court (RTC) judge when the decision of the case was read.
“As prosecutors, we realize that we can’t be popular with convicts. It is part of our job to handle verbal abuse from the accused,” Navera had said then.
“It is part of our job to handle verbal abuse from the accused,” he added.
Navera was also the lead prosecutor in a number of illegal drugs cases which led to convictions.
The cases included the 2018 conviction of four Chinese nationals who were caught in 2016 in a floating narcotics laboratory off the waters of Subic where 467.8 grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu were found; the 2019 conviction of a Chinese national who was caught with 2.8 kilos of shabu in 2018 in Makati City; the 2019 conviction of Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel member Horacio Hernandez Herrera who was caught with 2.2 kilos of cocaine in Makati CIty in 2015; and the 2019 conviction of the son of the late Ozamis City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr., Reynaldo Jr., for possession of illegal drugs.
Navera was also the lead prosecutor who secured the 2019 convictions of eight members of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) who were involved in the 2013 killing of a Taiwanese fisherman off the waters of Batanes.
He was also the lead prosecutor who filed drug charges in 2018 against suspected drug lord Peter Lim and his co-accused, including self-confessed drug boss Rolan “Kerwin” Espinosa, the son of slain Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr.
Navera filed charges in 2017 against Police Supt. Rafael Dumlao and his co-accused over the 2016 kidnapping and killing of Korean Jee Ick Joo.